EASTON — The new Samuel Staples Elementary School, with its unique barn-like design harking back to the town's agricultural past, will open its doors Wednesday.
 
The $31 million building at Morehouse and Banks roads, which can accommodate up to 800 students, replaces the old Staples school, which was plagued for years by mold and air quality problems.
 
The 118,470-square-foot structure has a facade mimicking a New England barn — and even a faux silo — in a nod to the town's heritage, even though it now is primarily a suburban bedroom community.
 
"I don't think there's a principal more excited about an opening day than I am," Principal Kimberly Fox-Santora said of the school's debut.
 
The school's design is also tailored to elementary education by reducing hallway noise and by keeping students in more academically focused areas longer than in the vacated building, she said.
 
Though the school looks like a barn, the rest of the building comprises three two-story wings, each housing two grade levels on the top and bottom floors.
 
"You no longer have the problem other schools have to contend with, with kids passing each other in the halls, making noise and interrupting learning," Fox-Santora said.
 
Teachers and administrators spent Monday "ironing out those logistical things," such as recess, lunch, fire drill and parent pickup procedures, in addition to readying their classrooms, the principal said.
 
Turner Construction, the project's management firm, was coordinating fire alarm systems Monday to
ensure everything worked properly, according to School Building Committee Chairman Steve Rowland.
 
Appliances are programmed to shut down, and blinds are supposed to close when fire alarms go off.
 
Professional cleaning crews have also been on the premises and scrubbed every surface, in addition to waxing tile floors.
 
"The floors are sparkling," Fox-Santora said. "It's like being in your brand-new home.
 
"It's just such a pleasure to be in an atmosphere that's so bright."
 
Both she and Rowland said the teachers, many of whom had been at the old Staples their entire careers, look forward to teaching in new, high-tech rooms.
 
"I met a number of teachers and they're like little kids," Rowland said. "They're ecstatic about it."
 
At Joel Barlow High School, officials have "minor finishing touches" left before completing the problem-plagued, nearly $38 million renovation/expansion project at the regional school shared with Redding.
 
The kitchen area, which was not expected to be finished until the fall, is complete, according to Arthur Poltrack, chairman of the Construction Completion Committee.

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